Trench Warfare Survival GuideBy Morgan Spagnolo

Gas Mask

A gas mask would be needed because poisonous gasses started to be used during WWI. The gas masks were not always easy and comfortable to wear. In WWI some countries gas masks could cause soldiers eyes and skin to get irritated. Others its was hard to breathe in. Even though the masks were not as developed as today, they still were useful (Trueman).

Sand Bags

Built up Communication Trench Running to Front Line by National Library of Scotland is licensed under public domain

Sandbags were also used to provide protection. Each sandbag was filled with earthly materials and then were stacked two to three feet deep. The sandbags stopped most of the bullets by only letting each one go 15 inches into the sandbag (“Sandbags”).

Machine Gun

British Machine Gun by Library of Congress is licensed under the digital ID ggbain.24930

Machine guns were used in WWI because they could shoot off 450- 600 rounds in one minute. This cut down of the time it took to reload and how fast they could shoot. Each machine gun weighed 30kg to 60kg and could take multiple men to work (“Weapons”).

Steel Helmet

A new type of helmet was introduced by the British in 1916. It was steel which offered much more protection than the cloth helmets used before. The new helmet’s design increased protection from bullets and other objects falling overhead. Although these helmets did not protect against all bullets, they decreased head injuries by 75 percent (“10 Things”).

Entrenching Tool

Entrenching Tool by Andshel is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

Trenches provided protection for the soldiers. These entrenching tools made digging much easier than using a shovel. Each set of allies dug trenches for more than 250 miles. Entrenching tools could also be used as a weapon in combat or to kill rats and other animals (“10 Things”).